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I recently saw a fabulous exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. “Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion” is magical. This young Dutch designer marries art and science to exquisite effect. Her work made me look long and hard and think a lot about what fashion is all about, what the possibilities are.

Ms. Van Heren is inspired by art, architecture, science and technology. She describes each collection in terms of its influences. Is this “wearable art?” Maybe. The creations cover or encase the body and in fact, are presented in runway fashion shows, although I can’t imagine anyone walking in the shoes shown in the exhibit. A video shows they can! She utilizes traditional handwork (still) but also incorporates materials made with a 3-D printer, materials not associated with garment construction. The results are “other-worldly” and mesmerizing. There is a notable absence of color, which places greater emphasis on structure.

Sometimes she collaborates with other artists such as the architect Daniel Widrig and Jolan van der Wiel (shoes).

To see details is to notice the parts isolated from the whole. Without the context we focus on an object’s lines, shapes, colors or textures.

Here are some architectural details from ancient stone edifices to a new bridge whose details seem like line drawings against the sky.

D’s Palace, Sp;it

Cathedral, Zagreb

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, Dallas

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, Dallas

Iceland’s Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavek has a mostly clear glass and steel façade. You can see buildings in the distance as well as the structural detail when you get close.

Harpa Concert Hall, Reykjavik

The distinctive character of a wall, an unusual door handle and metal grillwork look different up close.

DUMBO, NYC

Kumrovec

La Boca, Buenos Aires

Japan

What walls are made of or what’s on them provide great visuals.

Japan

Reykjavik

Dallas

Dallas

Dallas

Dallas

Dallas

Windows have an added dimension when looking for details. Looking through them adds a bit of color, which enhances the detail.

Dallas

Greenville, SC

We walk on floors, inside and out. Get low and see their textures, lines and shape.

African American Museum ,Dallas

Lisbon

From bright and shining vintage cars in museums to not so bright and shining, just old, we’re drawn to their colorful details.

Antique Car Museum, Warrenton, TX

Antique Car Museum, Warrenton, TX

Auto Museum, Moncopulli, Chile

Auto Museum, Moncopulli, Chile

Minturn, CO

Then, there is ART. When I stand back and look at the entire piece, i.e. a painting, or move around a sculpture I have one kind of experience. When I move closer I can see the parts (details) making up the whole. I can see how light affects the surface. I can see the negative spaces. I can isolate the colors and textures.

Michelle O’Michael “Metamorph”

Juan Fontanive

In my paintings and collages there is the “whole”, composed of many parts in dialogue with one another. A closer look reveals the details.

I often construct my collages on acrylic painted paper. For a recent group of collages I layered stencil shapes cut from discarded prints (monotypes, collagraphs, etchings) and other found paper on the painted background. I needed one more element to make the collage POP. I found it by using acrylic “spreads.” Never heard of them? Spreads are made by painting acrylic paint or paint + gel medium on a releasing surface like plastic, letting it dry really well, then scraping it off and gluing it to the collage paper. They’re a little tricky to make, but they’re fun to make and fun to incorporate into the collage. They add texture and a bit of 3-D to the flat surface.

Here are some examples from the “Hidden In Plain Sight” series.

#1296 Hidden In Plain Sight 1, collage, 16×20″, 2016

#1297 Hidden In Plain Sight 2, collage, 16×20″, 2016

#1298 Hidden In Plain Sight 3, collage, 16×20″, 2016

#1300 Hidden In Plain Sight 5, collage, 16×20″, 2016

I continue to use pieces of my photographs, like the underfoot and graffiti images with discarded (you could say re-purposed) prints and found paper. May I say “ephemera?” It sounds so much more sophisticated. The compositions extend in all directions on a white background.

Here are a few recent examples.

#1301 Remembering The Things You Forgot collage 22×30″ 2016

#1302 Internal:External Forces At Work collage 22×30″ 2016

#1303 Chasing The Unexpected collage 30×22″ 2016

Sometimes you have to go “small.” Same idea, collage on painted paper. What happens when you try to downsize? What do you pick and choose to take? Ugh, you say. Well, I have to make the same sort of decisions every time I look at the paper. I made a series of “minis” called “Mini-Go-Round.” They are 6×8”, a lot smaller than 16×20”, 22×30” or 29×41”, my usual sizes for collage. How would you design a collage on a small piece of paper?

Reflections of. Reflections in. Reflections on. How different the world can seem when we notice only a portion of it. Shapes and colors are distorted in strange and wonderful ways depending on the reflecting medium. I like to describe it as shape shifting. The image is somewhat recognizable but somehow different from what we expect.

Some materials are highly reflective like antique cars in a museum, polished to a fare thee well, reflecting people passing by as well as their pricey neighbors.

Antique Car Museum

Antique Car Museum

If the car is outdoors its colorful surroundings are captured on its slick and shiny surface.

Santa Fe

Sculptures, indoors and out, often have highly reflective surfaces which reflect museum goers, both those studying the sculpture and those photographing it. There is an otherworldly aspect to those reflections.

Jeff Koons

Donald Judd, Marfa

Loveland Sculpture Park, CO

Glass has a way of capturing and altering what it reflects. Sometimes it reflects what is in the immediate vicinity. Sometimes it lets us see through it and beyond in multiple layers.

Winspear Opera House, Dallas

Broad Museum, LA

Crystal Bridges Museum, Arkansas

Trammel Crow Building, Dallas

Glassware

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Water has its own special way of mesmerizing us with its reflections. This is shape shifting at its best. Wiggly, elusive images which change depending on the time of day and the light.

Look at water and architecture for playful abstract patterns of shape and color.

And now, YOUR photos! Thanks for letting us see what you see.

Elizabeth Greene – Libby

Marla Shainman – Rome

Moses Hoskins – Isfahan

Stan Feld – Woodcreek Ranch, TX

Phil Goodman

Next – Theme #4 is PLACE. It’s a word with many meanings. Literal or figurative. What’s your take on it? Get your photos ready and send them to me as email attachments no larger than 1MB JPG by January 4, 2017.

Robert Rauschenberg once said, “Sunsets and strawberries never appear the same.” Margaret Drabble wrote, in The Red Queen, “Nothing comes from nowhere.”

#1274 Razzle, Dazzle, collage 19 1:2×25 1:2″

#1275 Hip, Hip, Hooray, collage 19 1:2×25 1:2″ 20

When I think about my work (because people ask) I realize it is always about exploring possibilities. Sometimes it’s moving forward, sometimes it’s stepping back. Inspiration can come from anything and anywhere, as complicated as the arc of travel, as simple as the mash up of colors in a bowl of fruit salad. A story, a piece of fabric, architectural details. How do I process all of these sensory experiences? How do I express them?

It’s a balancing act. Assessing, revising, adding, subtracting. The paintings and collages, for instance, are the result of the interplay of line, texture (real or implied), negative and positive space, and color (or lack of). How do the parts relate to the whole?

Where is the harmony? The dissonance? Experience with materials and technique is layered over intuition.

#1276 Going My Way?, collage 19 1:2×25 1:2″

#1277 It Takes Longer Than You Think, collage 19 1:2×25 1:2″

One person’s “serious” is another person’s “playful.” What are the connections within a work and to others that form a series? Must it tell a story or can you connect with it on a different level? Do you seek out metaphors as you study it? “… the eye of the beholder” may sound trite but it’s important to note that you, the viewer, bring much to the work to help you understand it.

#1278 Taking The High Road, collage 19 1:2×25 1:2″

#1279 Flights of Fancy, collage 19 1:2×251:2″

I have no control over how viewers will interpret or connect with my work. I give up control once I determine it is finished. Then, on to the next.

The house settles a bit. This is Dallas, after all. The soil is slightly unstable. Cracks appear in the walls. They’re easy to ignore for a while. Then the painter has to be called. That painter. The one who can tape, bed, texture and paint.

I had ignored the cracks in my studio walls and ceiling for too long, mainly because I dreaded the task of shifting large canvases and “stuff” to other parts of the studio. It took a bit of thinking to figure out which other parts of the studio could be the recipients. This is my Dallas studio, the second story of the house we built in 1972. I’ve worked here all through the years my kids were growing up, through grad school (University of North Texas – MFA) and a variety of art and non- art related work experiences.

The studio has served me well. It was primarily a painting studio. I was exposed to printmaking in graduate school. I loved it and continued with it later by taking courses at one of the local community colleges. The MacDowell Colony accepted me for printmaking and I spent almost a month there in my own studio with my very own press. I longed to have one but knew the floor upstairs couldn’t handle the weight.

My dream came through in 2000 when we built an art studio at our farm north of Dallas. I designed the studio to accommodate a large Takach etching press. Takach presses are handmade in Albuquerque NM and are beautiful machines. The studio is large and well lit and I can also paint, make collages and use my computer and printer for my photography.

As I moved things around in preparation for the painters I realized how much “stuff” an artist collects. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Not quite hoarders, but close. Cardboard and bubble wrap. Frames, frames and more frames. A roll of canvas so large and heavy I can hardly move it, but hey, it cost less per foot that way, right?

An unexpected delight came from moving the paintings. I saw paintings like this one I had not seen in years.

When Changes Occur acrylic painting, 53×68″, 1987

Those who know me know I have been a lifelong knitter. You knitters know about the ever growing “yarn stash.” I have that, too. I’m announcing my goal to not put back every single item once the painters are finished. Donate or throw away. I hope.

Meanwhile, here a few pictures of the studio as it looks during this transition.

My collages, assembled from collagraphs, monotypes, etchings and found paper, and mixed media acrylic paintings all deal with the nature of abstraction.

My work, whether in printmaking, painting or collage is about exploring relationships. Bits and pieces from my visual experiences bump against each other. There are references in my work to the textures, colors, lines and shapes of things in the real world. The layering or unfolding of shapes, punctuations or expanses of color or character of a line order the picture plane. The resulting abstract images often allude to natural forms.

#1269 Untitled, mixed media acrylic painting on panel, 30×30″, 2013

#1270 Untitled mixed media acrylic painting on panel, 30×30″, 2013

#1271 Untitled mixed media acrylic painting on panel, 30×30″, 2013

The relationship of visual components in my paintings and collages is similar to what happens in jazz. There are themes and variations, repetitive devices, tensions and releases, riffs, harmony and dissonance. Like a jazz piece, there is a lot of improvisation. At each step in painting or making a print I may ask myself, “what if…?”, or “why not…?”, or “how about…?”

What if I limit my color palette, what if I work in a more minimal way or, on the other hand, what about excessive exuberance? Large or small? Paint or paper? Or both. Anything can spark an idea – something seen, heard, imagined. The results are often unexpected, and even though I may have some idea of the general direction, like jazz, there can be many twists and turns along the way.

Sometimes I assemble the collage on painted paper. The acrylic painting weaves its way in, out, and around the collage. Negative space and positive space play games with one another. There are all kinds of things to discover in this group of collages called “Rational Exuberance.” This is a case of “more is more.”

Each step, expected, or unexpected, is the impetus to continue the exploration or the journey in this painting or print or the next one. Serendipity is the hallmark of my work. I love the unpredictability of working with paint, paper, ink and plate.

When it comes to making collages my mantra is re-cycle, re-purpose, re-use. If “all’s fair in love and war”, so it is with collage making. There are as many ways to make a collage (2D, 3D, mixed) as there are materials.

(Definition: Collage derives its name from the French verb coller, to glue. The work of art is made by gluing things to the surface).

Sometimes I start by painting on the paper with acrylic paint or making a monotype.

acrylic painted paper

Next comes stash busting. I peruse all manner of my previous prints (etchings, monotypes, collagraphs). The un-wanted. Un-loved. I sort through ephemera.

bits and pieces

discarded prints

ephemera

Peruse, then pick. Decide on shapes. Cut out. Add, subtract, shift around, overlap. Build layers. Do not glue down. Changes might have to be made. Do not sneeze or jostle.

Here is the collage in progress with a few details.

collage in progress

detail

detail

Time to glue down all of those little pieces. To help me remember where they all go once they are lifted off the paper I make a few sketches with notations plus marks on the paper for shape locations. Then I remove a section at a time, add acrylic medium for “glue” and weight it down. This is where those old phone books come in handy.

This is the view of Woodcreek Ranch from my studio window. It’s what I see while I wait for the glue to dry.

Woodcreek Ranch – winter

I return to the collage and repeat the process of removing, gluing, weighting down and staring. Until it’s finished.

Untitled #1282 collage, 22×30″, 2014

There you have it!

You can see more of my collages on my website www.studio7310.com. Click on Tabs “New Work” and “Collages.”

I recently completed three mixed media acrylic paintings on panel. They are 24”x24”. All are, presently, “Untitled.”

I thought I would ask you, my readers, to help me title them, so they do not stay in a state of untitledness forever.

There is no story or narrative for the paintings. When you look at them, what comes to mind? Emotions? Musings? Reflections? Memories? Connections?

Title the Untitled. One, two, or all three. Give it your best shot.

Here they are, with a detail of each.

#1269 Untitled, mixed media acrylic painting on panel, 24x24", 2013

#1269- 2 Detail

#1270 Untitled mixed media acrylic painting on panel, 24"x24", 2013

#1270-2 Detail

#1271 Untitled mixed media acrylic painting on panel, 24"x24", 2013

#1271-2 Detail

Get the naming rights. I’ll select the most intriguing titles and give a shout out to the winners by noting your initials and city in a future blog. You’ll know who you are and the painting, formally known as “Untitled”, will be sporting a new name.

Out like a lamb (March). Unless you live in Boulder, Colorado which got more than a foot of snow the middle of April. Here in Texas, April showers will bring May flowers. The flower show really began with tulips mid March and continues right through spring and summer.

Inspiration, for me, is everywhere. Springtime at the Dallas Arboretum provided just the right burst of color needed for a series of collages I made called “Springtime Suite.” I built the collage on an acrylic painting on paper. I let the painting dictate the overall composition and color scheme of the collaged papers which included my own re-purposed prints (monotypes, collagraphs, etchings) and found paper. When you look at all seven of the Suite you’ll notice the differences in directional movement from one collage to another. In these collages negative space, the areas in and around the collage, are as important as the collage itself.

The seven collages in “Springtime Suite” express the joy I get from working with color inspired by the spring landscape.